The Formulation as a Service (FaaS) technology, targeting multiple models and species, took away the FIAAP animal nutrition award at VICTAM 2015 in Cologne earlier this month.
But the platform was launched at IPPE in Atlanta in 2014.
“We now have about 300 users globally and are now making significant inroads into the European feed sector,” Karel Vervaet, Bestmix product manager at Adifo Software, told FeedNavigator.
Instead of relying on formulation data downloaded to their computer weeks before, consultants can access updated information and the core formulation data platform via the cloud. They can then input details on the raw materials available at a site and produce a more accurate formulation for the pig, poultry or cattle producer.
“Feedback since its launch 18 months ago indicates feed manufacturer users really value the fact that all nutrition advisors in the field are working off the same piece of ration calculation software, and that the cloud element eliminates security risk in that there is no physical information on laptops – all data is updated and accessed online,” said Vervaet.
Independent feeding models
Feed companies and farmers are new experimenting with multiple feeding models, he said, to boost performance from their animals, and larger feed companies have even developed their own prototypes to be able to offer a competitive advantage to their customers.
The FaaS tool, said Vervaet, allows nutrition advisors to calculate rations according to standard models for cattle such as CNCPS, NRC, INRA or Feed into Milk but it also allows a company, if it has carried out enough research, to devise its own, independent feeding model.
The platform can also be applied to pig and poultry nutrition development:
“A feed manufacturer has ration calculation for multiple species through their various lifecycles in one single tool. To be able to support farmers with the feeding model they need for each project is a major breakthrough in ration calculation software,” said Vervaet.
All parties involved connect to the platform by means of a simple but secured internet connection, said Adifo.
Depending on their user profile, said the firm, cloud users may enter their own data as overlays, but they are prevented from changing the core data underneath.
And the core intelligence is securely stored centrally, without mirrors being copied to laptops or other unsecured devices, said the Belgian developer.